25% of Quake Repairs Still to Be Made in L.A. Schools
About one-quarter of the repair jobs to city schools damaged by the Northridge earthquake remain undone as Los Angeles school officials continue to haggle with the federal government over the promised funding for repairs.
But Los Angeles Unified School District officials say that by 1998 all repairs are expected to be complete.
With the exception of major projects at a handful of San Fernando Valley schools, most of the remaining work is cosmetic plaster patching and painting, officials say.
“Almost all of the repairs are funded and three-quarters are under [construction] or have been completed,” Margaret A. Scholl, director of the district’s earthquake recovery program, told board members at a meeting to review the status of repairs to school buildings.
About 5,500 school district buildings sustained damages totaling about $150 million in the 1994 temblor, with schools in the Valley suffering the most.
To date, FEMA has approved $105 million of the $150 million the district requested. Scholl said the district expects to receive $20 million to $40 million more. The district also has received $50 million of the $160 million it requested for hazard mitigation.
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